Friday, January 22, 2010

Thor Equities is no longer able to bring us shams like a squatted flea market which left its decaying skin behind to rot in the winter winds on the dirt lot it killed. The City has come in to save the summer...at least this summer...and with better carnival rides. Think of it, if you will, as a new version of Astroland. Though the nostalgia for Astroland will be missed it was time for something new. With Zampera, the winner of the RFP (Request for Proposals) to bring amusements to the City of New York (into the recently purchased 6.9 acres in Coney Island), we are promised lots of good quality generic carnival rides from this Italian amusement ride manufacturer.

Though this would help keep Coney alive, it still simply brings in rides people can ride anywhere else. I was on many Zamperla rides down in Miami's Santa's Enchanted Forest. Though these new generic rides would be un upgrade to Astroland's old rides, I took a nice short snooze on some of them. In fact, I've seen a bunch of Zamperla's rides in five fairs in South Florida during the winter months.

The presentation took us through many renderings and video clips of some of the new rides in action. At one of the forefronts, would be an emporium which will house a museum of Coney Island which will actually be a dark ride through the history of Coney Island. The emporium will be a greeting station and pit stop for all your needs from digital media gear and supplies, tickets to shows, strollers, etc. Down Stillwell Avenue will stand high, the Freakenspiele Tower (or Freak & Spiel) which pays homage to the Dreamland tower. The Freakenspiele will be a ride, launching passengers into the air at rocket speeds. Along Stillwell will be added attractions like stunt shows, street performers, and the indoor water park which seem to be a major staple in their plans.

One upgraded old ride would be the new Steeplechase ride which will be a morph between the Steeplechase horses and motorcylces. This would be a faster speed Steeplechase which would at one point go through the water park and then hover high over visitors.

This kind of thinking is more like what Coney needs, but done by professional amusement operators. With a contract to be signed between the city and Zamperla for up to ten years, and with this first step sounding like a temporary one for the next couple of summers, hopefully Zamperla will include, as their main attractions of the small Coney amusement core, some original thinking for the new Coney Island.